Point of sale (POS) transaction terminals were initially introduced to automate the approval of credit card transactions and to speed the transaction approval process and to reduce credit card fraud. In the mid-1980s, with the introduction of low cost POS transaction terminals like the ZON Jr. (TM) terminal supplied by VeriFone Inc., automated credit transaction processing became affordable to small merchants. As a result transaction automation spread rapidly in stores and restaurants throughout the United States.
As the volume of usage of transaction terminals expanded, merchants and service providers alike became interested in improving the response time of the system to reduce the amount of time consumed by each transaction processing event. In a typical case transaction time can be broken down into several separate component tasks:
1. entering transaction data into the local terminal acting as the authorization request entity; PA1 2. establishing a telephone line connection between the local terminal and a remote host computer acting as the authorization decision entity; PA1 3. handshaking between the data modems at local terminal and host computer in preparation for data communication between them; and PA1 a. defining a host dial string format including a communication command structure with a unique fast connect command associated with the fast modem connect protocol; PA1 b. storing in the transaction terminal a separate host dial string for each associated host in accordance with the defined host dial string format; PA1 c. selecting one of the associated hosts for receipt of transaction data associated with a current transaction; PA1 d. retrieving from the memory of the transaction terminal the stored host dial string for the selected host; PA1 e. examining the retrieved host dial string to determine if the unique fast connect command is present; PA1 f. carrying out the steps of the fast modem connect protocol if the fast connect command is present; and PA1 g. carrying out the steps of a standard modem connect protocol if the fast connect command is not present. PA1 This method has the same advantage mentioned above, namely that use of the dial string to invoke communication features makes set up of the terminal easy and use of the terminal in various communication modes with various host computers transparent to the user. The communication parameters and protocols can readily be altered if the host computer system changes its protocols.
4. actual data processing at the host and data communication of the result from host to terminal where the result is displayed.
In the early days, using 300 baud modems and standard telephone connection and modem handshaking protocols, total transaction time was substantial, but still was a great improvement over the time involved in voice call authorization. As a result, the industry gravitated toward requiring authorization of credit transactions on lower and lower transaction amounts and eventually requiring all credit transactions to be processed through the terminals. As volume of transactions increased, the total transaction time became a matter of concern for both the merchant and the service providers. As a result, various schemes and protocols for reducing the time consumed in each of these component areas of transaction processing have been suggested in the prior art and some have been implemented in practice. These schemes and protocols will be referred to generally as Fast Transaction features. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,796,292 and 5,144,651 for descriptions of fast interconnection and fast modem connection networks and protocols.